[unreadable] The large number of different techniques employed to thwart counterfeiting and tampering of pharmaceuticals, and large amount of money invested in this area, reflects both the pervasive nature of the problem and the lack of a secure and robust means of preventing it. While some techniques, such as traditional barcoding or RFID, are used with some success, some combination of price, alterability, ease of use or replication has prevented any of these techniques from evolving into a widely used and effective system to protect pharmaceutical preparations. Parallel Synthesis Technologies proposes the use of an inexpensive and easy to use encoding technology, which produces unique optical signatures based on ratios of multiple rare earth emitters, as an effective anticounterfeiting deterrent. Preliminary experiments indicate that it may be possible to label up to 107 samples in a four color system. A system by which the pharmaceutical packaging could be labeled and subsequently verified at point of distribution with an inexpensive reader is proposed. The encoding system is impossible to alter or replicate and the architecture is scalable in terms of hierarchical complexity and cost so that the most cost effective solution commensurate with the desired level of protection would be available. [unreadable] [unreadable]